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, (No Model.) s Sheets-Sheet 1. J O. L. COTTON.

MACHINE FOR FORMING HEEL BLANKS.

No. 320,228. Patented June 16, 1885.

N. PETERS, Pholo-umc m lmr. Wnshingwh. D. C.

(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 2. O. L. COTTON.

MACHINE FOR FORMING HEEL BLANKS.

No. 320,228. Patented June 16, 1885.

w; lllllll N. FUCHS, Pnmoulm m mr. Wnhinglnn. u. c

3 Sheets$heet 3.

(No Model.)

0. L. COTTON.

MACHINE FOR FORMING HEEL BLANKS. No. 320,228.

Patented June 16, 1885.

G ace s11. Coiom HNITED STATES CHARLES LEONARD COTTON, OF CHELSEA, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE MANSELL HEEL MACHINE COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

MACHINE FOR'FORMING HEEL-BLANKS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 320,228, dated June 16, 1885,

Application tiled November 5, 1884. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, CHARLES LEONARD COTTON, of Chelsea, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a 5 new and useful Improvement in Manufacture of Heel-Blanks; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eXact description of the same.

My invention relates to the manufacture of IO heel-blanks, and is designed to be used in connection with the heel-making machine shown in Letters Patent No. 297,437, granted to Ed ward H. Parks, and also with the machine shown in an application of F. V. Coy, filed in I 5 the United States Patent Oflice on the 26th day of November, 1884.

My invent-ion consists of devices and combinations of devices, hereinafter particularlyidescribed, to be used in connection with a die and 2c block of a heel-machine for cutting lifts and forming heel-blanks.

In the machines above referred to the lifts me out out in succession by a die and block, and are accumulated in the die to form the 25 blank. \Vhcn the lifts are cut from pieces capable of forming one or more complete lifts, the pieces may be introduced by hand when the block is lifted, and may be placed upon the end of the die to be pressed upon by the block which forces the lift into the die; but it is desirable in the manufacture of hecl-blanks t use small scraps and pieces of leather not large enough taken separately to form a lift. It is impracticable to place these upon the (lie by hand; and the object of my invention is to provide means whereby such pieces and scraps may be held together and upon the die, in order that the lift may be cut therefrom and pressed into the die.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 rep resents the Parks machine with. the block in section and the bed in side elevation with my attachment in positiompartly in sect-ion. Fig.

2 is a plan View of the bed with the frame of 5 the machine in section on the line a x of Fig.

1. Figs. 3 and 4 represent details of the c011- necting and operating parts between the ma chine proper and my attachment. Fig. 5 is a modification adapted to be substituted for the arms shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Figs. 6, 7, S, 9, and representthe device adapted to be used by hand.

The machine represented in the drawings is in all essential respects similar to that shown in the Parks patent heretofore referred to, and the general construction need not be herein described, except so far as pertains directly to and is necessary to an umlcrstanding of the present invention.

My attachment is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 at A. It is composed of a central hub, a, with radiating arms B, six being shown, though any suitable number maybe used. Each of the arms has an enlargcmentat the outer end. as shown, and, being alike in all respects, it is deemed sufficient to describe one only. In the enlarged portion 0 of the arm is formed an opening in the shape of the dic,which cuts the blanks but a trifle larger, so that it will fit over the edge of the die. A plate, C, is hinged to the arm B, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or secured in any other suitable manner. This plate is in shape similar to the arm B, and has an aperture corresponding to the aperture of B. This plate, however, is made of thinner metal and is elastic. It turns back in open ing toward the hub a and leaves the arm B uncovered at its outer end. In order that it may more securely hold the pieces of leather, I cut the edges of the plate C to form teeth I), the points of which are bent downward to press upon the leather. The plates are preferably formed so that the edges (1 d touch first when the plates are brought together, and the neck 0 of the plate C is sprung down to the arm B, to which it is held by a springclasp, f. This constitutes my attachment, and it is connected to the machine in the following manner: Secured to the front of the table is a bracket, 9, having arms 1 2, in which a verti cal shaft, h, has its bearings, being held in position by a fixed collar, 3. This shaft 71. has a coneshaped point adapted to a corresponding bearingin thehub a, and when in position the lower surface of the part c of the radiating arms is in line with the surface of the die. The shaft h carries a ratchetwhcchn, upon its lower end,with a number of teeth corresponding to the number of-arms radiating from the hub or to the number of leather-holding devices. This ratchet-wheel, shaft, and hub a are operated by connections with the drivingpower of the machine as follows: A vertical shaft, 13, (shown in Fig. 1, and common to the Parks machine,) has connection with the main shaft through beveled gears. A bevel-gear,4, is keyed to this shaft,as shown,and this meshes with and communicates motion to a bevel-gear, 5, on a shaft, 2', which has its hearings in a sleeve, 6, secured to the side of the frame. This arrangement is shown in Fig, 3. Upon the outer end of the shaft 1' is a wheel, k, having a cam-groove, 7, as shown in Fig. 4,which groove, like the ratchet -whcel, has six high. points, and this must likewise correspond with the number of leather-holding devices. Secured to the sleeve 6 is a bracket, Z, having arms 8 8 bent at right angles to the body and extending beyond the surface of the wheel 70. These arms are slotted to receive the extension 9 of a pawhm. This pawl is fitted to the ends of the extension 9, with a spring encircling it within the barrel or case, so as to allow it to slide over the teeth of the ratchet-wheel. At a suitable point on the inner face of the extension 9 is a pin, with a roller, 0, attached thereto and adapted to the cam-groove 7 in the wheel is. By the revolution of this wheel the extension 9 and its pawl are moved back and forth. successively, and this motion is trans-- mitted by the pawl to the ratchet-wheel n and its shaft to the leather-holding device.

In the operation of the device the attendant first removes the device A from its cone-bearing and fills it with the pieces of leather by raising the plate 0, and placing the pieces in position on the bottom plate over the aperture, taking care to bring the edges together. The plate 0 is then brought down and clamped in place. All the arms are thus filled in the same, it being only necessary that care should be taken in having the line of junction of the pieces run in opposite directions in the holders of adjoining arms, in order to break the joint which would be otherwise formed in the heelblank. As the reciprocating block moves up the empty holder is removed and the newlyfilled holder slipped in its place, with one of the arms immediately over the die. As the block descends this lift is cut,and by the time the block has again moved upward and down the mechanism described has moved the holder through the shaft h another step, and has brought another arm over the die, and so on.

In Fig. 5 Ihave shown a modification of my leather-holding device, in this case using a single disk of metal, as shown at D, instead of the arms in Figs. 1 and 2. Apertures are made in this disk at suitable intervals, and upon each side of these apertures are springfingers p p,which are secured to the disk, but have elasticity enough to allow the pieces of leather to be inserted beneath them, as shown, so that the pieces may be held securely in position. The operation with this modification, it will be obvious, is precisely the same as before described.

In case it should be desired to dispense with the automatic feed, I have provided an instrument for hand use. (Shown'in Figs. 6 and 7, with modifications in Figs. 8, 9, and 10.) The device shown in Figs. 6 and 7 is similar in all essential respects to one of the arms shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It is provided, however, with a wooden handle, A, and the lower plate, B, is attached to this, as shown, and the plate 0 hinged. thereto. Instead of this construction, howeverand this change may extend to the automatic feeder as well-I may, as shown in Fig. 8, secure the end of the plate 0 rigidly to the handle A, and make it oi such elastic metal that this plate may be raised sufficiently to admit of the insertion of the pieces of leather beneath it; or, as shown in Fig. 10, the wooden handle may be dispensed with, and the two parts composed wholly of metal and connected by a metal handle.

In order to adapt the instrument for use with the machine in which the die is raised above the table, I fix upon the under side of the lower plate guide-flanges 9', adapted to guide the instrument to the die, and thus facilitate the work, as it enables the attendant to use the instrument with great rapidity.

I do not limit myself to the precise form of the holder, as it may be varied greatly without departing from the general form requisite to clamp the pieces of leather and hold them upon the die.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is 1. In the manufacture of heel-blanks, aholder for the pieces of leather from which the lifts are to be cut, consisting of a plate or support, substantially as described, for the leather, an aperture therein corresponding to the shape of the lifts, and suitable clamping means for holding the leather upon the supporting-plate and over said aperture, combined with a cutting-die and block, substantially as described.

2. An attachment for presenting pieces of leather to the cutting-die and block of a heel machine, consisting of a series of holders for the pieces of leather provided at suitable intervals with apertures conforming to the shape of the lift to be cut, suitable clamping means, and means, substantially as. described, adapted to move the holder intermittingly to bring each aperture successively over the cutting-die, whereby the lifts are cut from the pieces of leather clamped over such apertures and the heel-blank formed therefrom, substantially as described.

3. An attachment for applying pieces of leather to the cutting-die and block of a heelmachine, consisting of a holder having arms radiating from a central hub, an aperture conforming to the shape of the lift to be out in the end of each of said arms, clamping devices thereon for holding the pieces of leather, and means, substantially as described, adapted to move the holder intermittingly to bring the aperture in each arm successively to the cutting-die, substantially as described.

4. An attachment for applying pieces of leather to the cuttingdie and block of a heelmachine, consisting of a holder with arms radiating from a central hub, each arm being composed of a part, B, and a clamp, O, and both having an aperture conforming to the shape of the lift to be cut, the pieces of leather being held between the parts, and means, substantially as described, adapted to move the arms successively to the cutting-die, substantially as described.

5. An attachment for applying pieces of leather to the cutting-die and block of a heelmachine, consisting of a revolving holder for CHAR-LES LEONARD COTTON.

\Vi t nesses:

O. E. MUDGE, CHARLES E. STEARNS. 

